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August 28, 2022

The Land of Lincoln - Springfield, Illinois

Visited August 26-28, 2022

By Janell

We were in a Springfield, IL suburb for three nights, but we were in "tourist mode" in Springfield for just one day. It was a very full day though, as you will soon see.



We started the day by being at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site when they opened. They don't sell tickets to the home online, only in person, on the day of the tour (go figure). We didn't want a repeat of what happened to us at FDR's home in Hyde Park, NY, where we showed up only to find that all of the home tours were sold out for the day.


A self-taught lawyer with only one year of frontier schooling, Abraham Lincoln rode his horse into Springfield, Illinois in 1837 with all his belongings in two saddlebags. Mary Todd, who arrived two years later, was well educated and from a prominent Kentucky family. The two were married in November 1842, and their first son, Robert was born in 1843. In 1844, the Lincoln family bought a one-story cottage from Reverend Charles Dresser, who had married the Lincolns. 

Over the years the Lincolns enlarged the cottage, including adding a second story, to accommodate their growing family. The Lincoln family lived in this house in Springfield for 17 years. Three of their four sons were born here (Edward, William & Thomas), and one died here (Edward). Sadly, their eldest son, Robert was the only one who lived to adulthood.


Many times when we're visiting an historic home, the artifacts are correct to the time period but not necessarily something that belonged to the home's owner. We were pleasantly surprised, in the Lincoln home, to find that many of the items did actually belong to the Lincoln family.

On the game table above, you'll see a "toy" (the actual one!) that Abe bought for his boys. It's an old-time equivalent of a View-Master that many of us will remember from our childhood. This was quite an expensive purchase for the day, but Abe valued his boys' play time and education; and this toy checked both boxes.

This was Abe's writing desk

And Abe's shaving mirror

By the way, the wallpaper in the above two photos are an exact replica of the pattern used by the Lincolns.

This was the stove that Mary Lincoln used. Before the purchase of this stove, she was cooking over an open fire. As Abe progressed in his career, the family hosted dinners for up to 300 guests. Mrs. Lincoln, along with a paid servant girl, cooked meals for those guests on this very stove. 

Okay, I probably should stop whining about missing my kitchen back home in Livermore.





We toured the Old State Capitol in Springfield. The exterior was undergoing renovation, but the interior was super interesting.

This structure is a reconstruction of Illinois' 5th State House. Having been altered many times throughout the years, in the 1960's, the State of Illinois built a 6th and much larger State Capitol building. The Old State Capitol was then completely dismantled, stone by stone, and rebuilt to resemble the appearance of the building in 1860, when Lincoln last saw the capitol prior to his departure to Washington D.C.


From Wikipedia:
It was in this building that Lincoln served his final term as a state lawmaker in 1840-41. As a lawyer, he pleaded cases before the state supreme court here from 1841-1860. In the Illinois House chamber, Lincoln made his "House Divided" speech in June 1858, announcing his candidacy for the U.S. Senate. It was to the same chamber, in May 1865, that his body was returned to lie in state, arriving from Washington, D.C., prior to final burial in Springfield's Oak Ridge Cemetery.



During the Civil War years, the Springfield Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society used the capitol building as a base of operations. Organized in August 1861, their purpose was to "gather food, clothing and other supplies to aid Illinois soldiers, most especially the sick and the wounded". Prior to this, women were not even allowed in the capitol building. 
We've come a long way baby!


Take a look at this wooden chain that's currently hanging in the governor's reception room in the Old State Capitol. Our tour guide said that the history on the chain is unknown, but what's fascinating is that the chain was carved from one piece of wood, without seams or glue. Think about it . . . now that's skill!

The Illinois House of Representatives chamber, where Lincoln's body lay for 24 hours.




Next order of the day was a visit to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, which was really well done. As with any museum, there was a lot of information to read, but there were also many visuals to hold everyone's interest. Beginning with Lincoln's childhood, and ending with his body lying in state, the life-size scenes were so engaging and realistic.

A young Lincoln reads by the fire in his childhood home: a one-room cabin in Kentucky

Abe Lincoln courts Mary Todd

The October 1858 Senatorial debate between Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln encouraged his young sons to play freely. The scene depicted here shows just how much freedom the boys were allowed. You don't see it in the photo, but the mess included ink spilled and splattered on the walls. It's hard for me to imagine that this type of behavior didn't elicit a rebuke now and then from Mary Lincoln for all of the "boys", Abe included.
The Lincoln family, plus one?

Generals McClellan and Grant stand on the White House veranda

The Gettysburg Address



In Ford's Theatre

Museum visitors can read Lincoln's last words exchanged with his wife, spoken moments before he was shot.

Mary held his hand, and at a few minutes before ten hugged him and asked, "What will Miss Harris think of my hanging on to you so?" Lincoln turned to her with a tender reply, "She won't think anything about it."

Those were the last words Mary would hear from her husband. Moments later, at approximately 10:15pm, John Wilkes Booth gained entrance to the presidential box, and placing a derringer pistol behind the president's left ear, shot him at point-blank range.

Lying in state
From the museum's website:
An immersive exhibit, this is a full scale recreation of the Representatives Hall in Springfield's Old State Capitol. Based on period photographs, historical etchings, and a reporter's first-hand descriptions, sculptors and artists have set this Hall back in time to the exact moment when Lincoln lay in state, complete with all the lavish, elaborate, and, by today's standards, sometimes eccentric decorations. Having walked through Lincoln's life, visitors will now file past his closed casket as though they too are paying their last respects.




And finally, we visited the Lincoln Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery, also in Springfield. Notice Abe's shiny nose? Apparently it's a "thing" for visitors to rub his nose for luck. Lincoln had a good sense of humor, so I bet he'd get a chuckle out of it if he were watching.
Visitors are welcome to go inside the mausoleum. Abraham, Mary and three of their four sons were laid to rest here. Robert Todd Lincoln is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.





We said "Goodbye" to Springfield with a dinner at Obed & Isaac's Microbrewery & Eatery.




August 25, 2022

Indianapolis, Indiana

Dates visited: August 20 - 25, 2022

By Marty 

Our KOA park was 25 minutes east of Indianapolis. On the one occasion that we went into the city we drove to a suburb and rode our bikes on the Monon trail (a rails to trails paved multi-use path) into the city center.

 Soldiers & Sailors Monument

From the web: 

Recognized as one of the world's outstanding monuments the Soldiers & Sailors Monument is Indiana's official memorial to the Hoosiers that served in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Frontier Wars, and the Spanish-American War.

Constructed in 1902 the monument stands 284' tall, just 15' shorter than the Statue of Liberty. Elaborate sculptures like those you see in the photo above can be found on all four sides of the monument.

Indiana State Capitol


We have visited a number of State Capitols, but also missed a few because of Covid closures. The Indiana Capitol interiors are as impressive as any that we have seen.

You're not looking down, you're looking up!  

I placed my phone on the floor in the center of the rotunda and used the timer for this photo. In the photo above this one you can see a portion of this blue glass rotunda ceiling.





Our bike ride took us along the Canal Walk, a three mile loop that is part of the Indiana Central Canal.



The Indiana Central Canal was conceived in 1836 during the heyday of canal building in the U.S. It was to be a 296 mile long canal from northern Indiana to the Ohio River at the Indiana/Kentucky border. Alas, the rise of railroads put the kibosh on canals as a cost effective way to transport goods. Only eight miles of the canal was built before financing was rescinded. Much of the eight miles was in and near Indianapolis. The downtown portion was restored and opened in 2001 as an amenity for locals and tourists.





10 swans a swimming?


 
USS Indianapolis CA-35 Memorial

The USS Indianapolis was a heavy cruiser that delivered secret components for the atomic bomb to Tinian Island in August, 1945. On it's return voyage a Japanese submarine sank it. The ship sank in a mere 12 minutes, taking 300 of her crew down with her. 900 men went into the water. Four days and five nights passed before the survivors were spotted and rescued. By this time only 316 men survived.

For more about the USS Indianapolis:






Right?


 
On this day we drove an hour east to visit the Levi and Catharine Coffin Home (about which you will learn below) and Indiana's Antique Alley. But first we had to fortify ourselves at Waffle House! We are back in Waffle House country, but not for long! On our route from here to home Waffle Houses can be found in Missouri and Kansas and a handful in Colorado.


Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad - The Levi and Catharine Coffin Home

Over a 20 year period Levi and Catherine Coffin, from their home in Newport, Indiana, worked to provide transportation, shelter, food and clothing to more than 1,000 enslaved people seeking freedom. 

The Coffin House is a State of Indiana museum and Interpretive Center. It was ranked as one of the nation's "Top 25 Historical Sites" by the History Channel. 

From the museum's website:

For their journeys north, freedom-seekers often used three main routes to cross from slavery to freedom—through Madison or Jeffersonville in Indiana, or Cincinnati, Ohio. From these points, slaves traveled to Newport through the Underground Railroad. The Coffins’ “station” was so successful that every person who passed through eventually reached freedom.

The location of the house, on Highway 27 at the center of an abolitionist Quaker community, allowed the entire community to act as lookouts for the Coffins and give them plenty of warning when bounty hunters came into town.

The rocker bench is  called a "mammy bench rocker". The front board on the right side keeps the baby from rolling off but it can be removed when not needed.

This room is the servants quarters (paid servants, not slaves)

Indiana was a free state but the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850 allowed bounty hunters to pursue runaway slaves (freedom seekers) anywhere in the U.S. and compelled citizens to assist in the capture of runaways. A fine of $1,000 and six months in jail was the penalty for helping runaways.

However, the bounty hunters were required to obtain a search warrant to enter a home. This was not always expedient in a free state like Indiana so the Coffin home was not often subjected to searches. On one occasion when their home was searched the crawl space behind the beds was used to hide 17 freedom seekers! The bed was moved over to hide the door.


The false bottom under the grain sacks would conceal freedom seekers while in transit


Cool mural of the Coffins and freedom seekers



Our route back to the KOA took us on Antique Alley, a mecca for antique shoppers that is spread over six towns and 35 locations with over 1,200 different dealers. Cambridge City, home to a dozen antique shops and malls within two blocks, seemed to be the best spot so we stopped there and browsed through most of the shops.



We are not big antique shop people. So many of them, to us, are junky and tacky and smell funny! I must say, though, that we were really impressed with the quality of the shops in Cambridge City.



The Abraham Lincoln Funeral Train passed through Cambridge City on it's way to Springfield Illinois on April 30, 1865.

Hoosier Gym - from the movie "Hoosiers"

We stumbled onto the gym where the fictitious Hickory Huskers played their basketball games. Hoosiers is one of my favorite all-time movies. Of movies that I have watched more than once, this one tops the list for viewings. Including my latest viewing a few days ago.... I have seen it 5 or 6 times!

Hickory Huskers all the way!

Hoosiers is rated the 4th best sports film by the American Film Institute

                          The movie trailer:



We were given a private tour by Tom, who volunteers for the local booster group. Tom asked me if I wanted to put up a few shots on the court.  Heck ya I do!  I took a half dozen shots, missing more than I made. My last shot was my one and only free throw attempt: nothin' but net!


Hoosiers is based on the true story of the Milan High School basketball team that won the Indiana High School Boys basketball tournament in 1954. Back then all high schools were in one bracket for the State championship, regardless of school enrollment.  Milan, with an enrollment of 161 students, beat the much larger Muncie Central High School team in what became known as the Milan Miracle.




This door leads from the locker room to the court. In the movie Gene Hackman says to himself "welcome to Indiana basketball" just before opening the door to join his team in the raucous gym for his first game as coach.

It was a big thrill for me to walk through that door!



The Hoosiers State championship game was filmed at Hinkle Fieldhouse on the Butler University Campus in Indianapolis. On our biking day we (okay... I ) made a point of driving over there to see if we could get in to see the gym. This was before I was even aware of the Hoosier gym being in our vicinity.



Needless to say, we were allowed into the gym! The gym, while still a classic, is more modern looking inside than it was in the movie, thanks to the $36M renovation in 2014. What a beautiful and historic facility it is!



Upon opening in 1925 Hinkle Fieldhouse, with a capacity of 15,000, was the largest basketball arena in the U.S. and continued as such for the next twenty years.
 
If you don't plan to watch the movie you might enjoy seeing this two minute clip, filmed in Hinkle Fieldhouse, of the end of the movie... the Huskers are down to their last shot...